INTERNATIONAL
STORIES

Catholic
Church

Vatican car seized with
cocaine, cannabis(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 17 - The Vatican has been left red-faced after it emerged that a car
bearing its diplomatic plates had been stopped in France with four kilograms of
cocaine on board.

Islam

Iranian 'Happy' video
youth sentenced (news.com.au) Sept 19 - A DEFENCE lawyer in Iran says six young Iranian men and women
videotaped dancing to Pharrell Williams' Happy and the video's director have
been sentenced to suspended jail terms and lashes.

Gay-friendly mosque
launches quiet 'revolution' in South Africa (The West Australian) Sept 20 - Cape Town (AFP) - Against a global background of rising Islamist
militancy a new mosque where gay people are welcome, Christians too, and women
are treated equally to men opened peacefully in Cape Town on Friday despite
threats of violence.

Rise of Islamic schools
causes alarm in secular Turkey (The
West Australian) Sept 21 - Istanbul (AFP) - When Turkish pupils received their school entry exam
results after the end of last term, textile worker and father Halil Ibrahim
Beyhan received an unpleasant surprise.

US bombs Islamic State
militants near Baghdad (The
Courier-Mail, Brisbane) Sept 17 - THE United States has bombed militants near Baghdad in support of
Iraqi forces, striking close to the capital for the first time in its expanded
campaign against Islamic State jihadists.

Islamic State has
offered to trade hostages for imprisoned 'superstar'(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 20 - For months, Islamic State militants have engaged in a high-stakes
game of deadly extortion, threatening to behead American captives they are
holding in the Middle East unless their demands are met, including an end to US
airstrikes targeting their strongholds in Iraq.

US 'communicating' with
Iran over Islamic State but being rebuffed(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 20 - Washington: Washington has been "communicating" with its
arch-enemy Tehran, searching for openings that might lead to a co-ordinated
campaign to achieve Barack Obama's stated objective – to "degrade and
destroy" the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

ISIS jihadists close on
Syria Kurdish town (The
Australian) Sept 21 - ISLAMIC State jihadists were closing in on Syria’s third-largest
Kurdish town today after their capture of surrounding villages sent tens of
thousands of refugees streaming into Turkey, a monitoring group said.

Other

Nigeria church collapse
survivor found (The Australian)
Sept 17 - A WOMAN has walked away only slightly injured after being pulled from
the rubble of a building that collapsed in Nigeria four days ago.

Albania's lesson in
Muslim-Christian tolerance (The
West Australian) Sept 21 - Malbardh (Albania) (AFP) - Perched up an Albanian mountain, the
mediaeval church of St Nicolas was rebuilt from a crumbling ruin with help from
local Muslims after the fall of communism, a symbol of the religious tolerance
Pope Francis will be celebrating here on Sunday.

Australia’s Islamic
leaders must strongly condemn IS (The
Courier-Mail, Brisbane) Sept 17 – (Opinion: Editorial) WHEN President Barack Obama addressed the
American people a week ago about his strategy for dealing with the Islamic
State militants, he began by saying it needed to be remembered this group was
“not Islamic and not a state”.

Islamic State horror
hits home: plot to abduct and behead Australians (The Australian) Sept 19 - THE threat of Islamic State has spread from the war-torn Middle East
to the other side of the world, after police claimed to have smashed an
imminent plot to abduct and behead an Australian civilian as part of the terror
group’s global propaganda campaign.

Terrorist raids: family
say they were terrified(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 19 - Rabie el Achwah, 22, was downstairs in his home in Hector Street,
Bass Hill, pouring himself a glass of milk before morning prayers at 4.45am,
when he was startled by violent thumps on the front door and the front window
shattered.

Muslim protesters in
Lakemba - who were they? (news.com.au) Sept 19 - DID the protesters who called police “pigs” and “dogs” in the
aftermath of Australia’s biggest anti-terror operation really represent the
wider Muslim community?

Youth rebellion that
embraces authority (The
Australian) Sept 20 – (Opinion) IT is not just the
threat of particular horrific acts of terror on the streets of Sydney that
Australia has woken up to this week.

Sydney police patrol
around mosques (The West
Australian) Sept 20 - Police will patrol mosques across Sydney under an operation
established to head off any reprisals from Thursday's anti-terror raids, but
they insist it's for community protection and confidence.

POLITICS

Abbott declares war on
the Islamic State 'death cult'(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 15 - Two hundred elite special forces soldiers could be on the ground in
Iraq within days after the Abbott government agreed to a US request to provide
planes and 600 personnel to the region as part of a multinational strike force
against Islamic terrorists rampaging through Iraq and Syria.

I won't put time limit
on Iraq: Abbott (Brisbane Times)
Sept 15 - Prime Minister Tony Abbott won't put a time limit on Australia's
commitment to the fight against Islamic State extremists, saying its deployment
to the Middle East could last "many, many months".

There are clear and
achievable objectives in Iraq, says Tony Abbott(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 15 - Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Australian Muslims they will be
acting "against God" if they join Islamic State and said they would
find themselves in more danger as a result of the Australian military being
deployed to help destroy the militant group.

'Stupid and ignorant':
Cory Bernardi's comments(Sydney Morning Herald) Sept 21 - Comments by a Liberal senator linking terror raids with a campaign to
ban the burqa have been described as "stupid and ignorant" and
designed to "feed prejudice".